Scribble

Goodbye Wolfie

julyaoui

A Belgian Shepherd appeared out of nowhere on my road one day. As usual, I thought it was some neighbor’s dog that got loose and was wandering around to do his business which is a very common everyday occurrence. Some pet owners in my area do that all the time much to our disgust.

After seeing him around for 2 days I didn’t much pay much aattentin since he hung out mostly at my neighbor’s house. But one the third day another neighbor told me a dog fell into the drain. Knowing that I rescued a dog before she expected me to do something again.

I went to check the drain and saw this humungous dog lying in the narrow space looking dreadfully sad. I called the animal rescuer but he could only make it later to assess the situation. I didn’t know what else to do since I had no experience except for that one time when I rescued a small abused dog. This was a Belgian Sheperd.

Rescued on October 18th, 2018

Bracing myself to do something before the storm came I fed it a few biscuits and then some rice. He seemed friendly enough and was quite gentle and loving so I tried to lift him up but I was afraid I might further hurt him in case he was injured. I asked him to help me by standing up and he did. I hoisted his upper body up, steadied him on the slope and then lifted the rest of him without difficulty. As soon as he was up I invited him into my home.

He’s such a dear

Lo and behold, he was a little too forceful with my other rescued dog, Goldie, and my mom made a hue and cry about having another dog. I was devastated and confused. When he got a little too aggressive with Goldie, I pushed him away and he nipped my wrist. From then on, I knew this dog needed rehabilitation. I didn’t know his history but I knew he must have been physically or mentally or emotionally abused. Or all of them.

In my home

Once the rescuer came we sent him to the vet for a checkup. His hind legs were weak but the vet did not have the facilities to do a thorough examination. The next nearest vet would be in Ipoh. He told us it could be luxation probably from the abuse or an accident.

We sent out messages in the social media, kept the dog in a safe home and waited for the owner to come forward to retrieve his dog but no one did. I went about to feed it while we waited. During one of the feeding days, he was playing with a plastic container. I thought I could get him to play fetch and I grabbed the container from him and he bit me in the forearm. I was shocked and realized I didn’t know his temperament at all. I may have showered him twice, snuggled with him and fed him with my hand but I didn’t know him at all.

Bitten on October 22nd, 2018

I was more careful the next time I fed him and I was still a little traumatized from the experience. Lucky enough after a few days of staying alone in the safe home Wolfie was adopted by a family. It was wonderful news for both the rescuer and me. They loved him. They had always wanted a dog like him. It was heartening to know that someone wanted him despite his handicap and temperament.

Today, I got a message about Wolfie. He bit the owner’s mother and they are considering putting him down. The rescuer tried to rehome Wolfie but the owner couldn’t wait and a little later they did put him to sleep and that was that. That’s the end of Wolfie’s life from the time I knew him to this day (October 18th – November 1st, 2018). What could I have done more? What could have changed? Could he have been rehabilitated? Was there even a chance for dogs like Wolfie at all? What did he do to deserve this? This is Malaysia. This is Taiping. They do that to dogs and that’s that.

Goodbye Wolfie
8th Oct – 1st Nov 2018